Driving devices for toys

ABSTRACT

A DRIVING DEVICE FOR A TOY IS FORMED BY A ROTARY MEMBER TO WHICH THERE IS ATTACHED ONE END OF A SPRING WHICH IS ANCHORED AT ITS OTHER END, AND ALSO ONE ELEMENT OF A BRAKING DEVICE FORMED BY A CASING WHICH CONTAINS A   VISCOUS SUBSTANCE AND AT LEAST ONE VANE WHICH TENDS TO MOVE INSIDE THE VISCOUS SUBSTANCE UNDER THE WORKING FORCE OF THE SPRING.

av. 16, 1971 J WDAL 3,619,939

DRIVING DEVICES FOR TOYS Filed Feb. 19, 1969 2 Shoots-Shoot 1 a, INVENTOR JZRb-k/MWLM/ V ML YQEHJ v @8414? ATTORNEY 5 Nov. 16, 1971 VlDAL 3,619,939

DRIVING DEVICES FOR TOYS Filed Feb. 19, 1969 2 Sheets-Shoot I INVENTOR MM AM W VIDA L y Bid/ L ATTO NEY 5 United States Patent 3,619,939 DRIVING DEVICES FOR TOYS Jorge Argemi Vidal, Calle Maignon 10, Barcelona, Spain Filed Feb. 19, 1969, Ser. No. 800,460 Claims priority, appliciltiorgospain, Feb. 20, 1968,

Int. Cl. A 63h 11/10 US. Cl. 46201 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to a driving device for a toy, of the kind comprising a spring which can be wound up or tensioned by suitable rotation, for instance, by means of a key, the object being to provide an improved drive device.

Conventional drive devices of the kind referred to comprise a gear multiplying mechanism connected to a speedregulating device, and an additional transmission, which can form part of the aforementioned gear multiplying mechanism, to control the moving members of the toy.

The gear mechanism is of very complicated construction and considerably increases the cost of manufacture of drive devices of this kind.

Moreover, such mechanisms do not always rotate the spindle with the necessary regularity and, since they are of delicate construction, they are rapidly worn or damaged, so that the toy becomes completely useless.

The drive device for a toy according to the invention satisfactorily obviates these considerable disadvantages by eliminating the gear mechanism and substituting very simple elements which have the same eifect of reducing the speed of rotation of the spindle and also produce a uniform movement.

According tothe invention, the drive device is formed by a rotary member to which there is attached one end of a spring which is anchored at its other end, and also one element of a braking device formed by a casing which contains a viscous substance and at least one vane which tends to move inside the viscous substance under the working force of the spring.

In one embodiment of the invention, the spring is attached by one of its ends to the body of the toy in which the drive device is used, and the other end of the spring is attached to the casing freely mounted on the spindle, which is itself fixed with relation to the body of the toy and lgears the vane. For instance, the periphery of the casing of the device projects through a lower aperture in the body of the toy, to form a bearing point and traction means for the toy. The end of the spring which is attached to the casing of the device is coiled over a rotary member which includes a pin of the casing and is formed with a projection which backs against the last turns of the spring and is retained in a recess in the pin with inclined flanks, but is adapted to escape from the recess if actuated in the wrong direction. According to another feature of the invention, the casing of the toy can comprise another two bearing points formed by sliding elements.

Embodiments of the invention are diagrammatically illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

3,619,939 Patented Nov. 16, 1971 ice FIG. 1 is an exploded view of the drive device, and also shows those parts of a toy to which it is applied,

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section corresponding to FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-section;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 2, but showing a different operational position;

FIG. 5 is a cross-section through the braking device, and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the complete toy with the drive device.

Referring to the drawings, the drive device for a toy comprises a casing having a casing body and a cover 2 connected thereto by a step 3 and formed with an axial aperture 4. The casing body 1 has an external axial boss 5 having a central internal aperture 6 and a coaxial external pin 7 which with boss 5 forms a rotary member and is integral with casing body 1. The boss 5 has two diametrically opposed flats 13. Mounted in the apertures 4, 6 is a spindle 8 which projects through the aperture 4 and has attached to it inside the casing 1, 2 a core 9 having two radial vanes 10 which fit easily in the interior of the casing. The casing 1, 2 is filled with a viscous substance which brakes the relative movement between the casing 1, 2 and the vanes 10, producing a regular drive speed.

The drive member is formed by a watch or spiral spring 11 whose outer end is anchored at a fixed point on the device or toy equipped with the drive device, the inner end of the spring terminating in a loop 12 which, when the spring is tensioned ('FIG. 4), is frictionally applied to one of the two fiat faces 13 on the pin 5. In this way, the pin and the casing 1 are pulled by the spring 11,

' with consequent avoidance of the usual deterioration of the watch spring when it is forced beyond its maximum extension, because the loop 12 tends to slide over the pin 5 when the spring is loose.

The device described is attached by clamps 14 in notches 15 in the sides of two lugs 16 which project upwards on both sides of an aperture 17 in a baseplate 18 of a particular toy and of a shape such that the lower portion of the casing 1, 2 projects through the aperture 17 and bears against the surface with which the toy is in contact, as can be seen from the drawings. The member 7 can rotate freely in the notch 15 in which it is received, whereas the spindle 8, which is bent at its outer end portion at a right-angle and has a sharpened point 19, is fixed with respect to the corresponding lug 16.

The outer end of the watch spring 11 can be attached as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, its end 20 being either bent and hooked into apertures 21 in the baseplate 18 (FIG. 2), or attached by means of a rivet 22 (FIG. 4).

The casing 1, 2 forms a bearing place for the toy and provides the drive wheel of the toy, and another two precise bearing points are provided by two rounded pins 23 which can readily slide over a smooth surface. The assembly can be covered by a casing 24 completing the body of the toy; this is a toy snail in the embodiment illustrated, but it can represent any other animal or moving object.

Alternatively, the watch or spiral spring can be housed in the casing in its own compartment, or in the same enclosure which contains the viscous substance. The spring can be a helical spring. The mechanism described is adapted to be wound up or tensioned by direct action on the casing 1, 2, but its elements could alternatively be adapted to be wound up by a key in known manner.

I claim:

1. In a toy, a drive device including a rotary member, a spring attached at one end to said rotary member and anchored at its other end, a casing forming one element of a braking device, said rotary member being fixed to and projecting from said casing, and said casing containing a viscous substance and at least one vane which tends to move inside the viscous substance under the Working force of the spring, a body forming part of the toy, said spring having said other end thereof anchored to said body and said drive device being situated wtihin said body, a spindle Within said casing and fixed to said body, said spindle supporting said casing and said rotary member for rotary movement, and said spindle carrying said vane, said toy body being formed with a lower aperture and the periphery of the casing of the drive device projecting through said lower aperture in the body of the toy to form a bearing point and traction means for the toy.

2. In a toy, a drive device including a rotary member, a spring attached at one end to said rotary member and anchored at its other end, a casing forming one element of a braking device, said rotary member being fixed to and projecting from said casing, and said casing containing a viscous substance and at least one vane which tends to move inside the viscous substance under the working force of the spring, a body forming part of the toy, said spring having said other end thereof anchored to said body and said drive device being situated within said body, a spindle within said casing and fixed to said body, said spindle supporting said casing and said rotary member for rotary movement, and said spindle carrying said vane, said one end of said spring being coiled around said rotary member, said rotary member being formed with flat faces which are engaged by inner turns of the spring, whereby the spring can move around the rotary member if actuated in the wrong direction.

3. A drive device according to claim 1, characterised in that the body of the toy comprises two other bearing points formed by sliding elements.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 242,901 6/1881 Edison 1 88-90 X 342,255 5/1886 Gornall 18890 X 1,350,018 8/1920 Gill 18890 3,359,680 12/1967 Lindsay 46--206 3,373,992 3/1968 Ludeman 27273 LOUIS G. MANCENE, Primary Examiner D. L. WEINHOLD, JR., Assistant Examiner 

